Lee Sangsoo crafts animal sculptures by twining coloured metal strips

Korean artist, Lee Sangsoo’s new animal sculptures - part of his ongoing project, were recently showcased at KIAF SEOUL, one of the largest art fairs in South Korea. His large collection of animal sculptures come in several different sizes and vibrant colours, with shiny exteriors and in elegant seamless forms.

Sangsoo has been a practising artist for the past 20 years. His inclination towards exploring the forms and shapes of animals in a non-literal manner through art is informed in part by the long hours spent watching animal videos and making sketches. These observations have led the artist to capture not only the physical form of the animals but their movements as well, which makes his still sculptures appear dynamic and flowy.

The artist is also mindful of the latest technological advancements and studies several programs and machines in order to stay up-to-date with them and implement them in his own artistic works.

Serving as an ode to animals and a homage to evolution, Sangsoo’s sculptures reveal the beauty of animals in a very simple form. His process involves drawing out his initial ideas digitally and then converting them into physical three-dimensional sculptures, which he makes by twisting and turning hollow coils of spray-painted stainless steel. The twists and turns, along with the different thicknesses of the lines, lend these still pieces an exuberating dynamism. While the smaller animal sculptures are made out of plastic, the larger ones are made out of square stainless steel tubes.

“The painting is in an imaginary space, but the sculpture is real. You can see, you can touch, and you can feel the air. It exists as human beings exist. Since we live in a three-dimensional space, it is attractive to do three-dimensional art”, says Sangsoo.

His pieces resemble single line drawings, except that they are physical pieces that can be touched and felt, and thus, appear more real and life-like. These sculptures are Sangsoo’s personal way of commemorating the ideas that regularly strike his mind. The curvy lines and the usage of bright colours make his sculptural pieces appear playful and interesting. Some of the animals that have been recreated by the artist are deers, flamingoes, siamese cats, horses, pigs, poodles, swans and parrots.